Sunday, 18 November 2012

I haven't really been able to focus much on getting any bucket list items crossed off because I'm in the home stretch of my final fall semester in university. Between work, and school, and festivals, and working different concerts here and there, things have been pretty busy. I'm way behind on school work at the moment, but I'm feeling really restless knowing that it's close to being over so I'm having a hard time focusing on getting the work finished. (I spent the last hour or two making up a list of places I'd like to visit some day)

Not to mention that I'm not really super interested in most of the classes I'm taking and I'm in a first year ancient civilizations class that somehow is ending up being harder than any 4th year class I've ever taken (and the class average was 46% until the prof decided to bump everyone up by 10%...Luckily I'm doing pretty okay in the class, but our final exam is worth 60% of our mark and I am freaking out).

I'm not sure when I'll be officially done - I have exams on Friday, the 30th and Saturday, the 1st and then I'm supposed to have an oral exam for my French class some time that next week. Hopefully it's early so I can get it all over with.

Because of how stressed out/ busy I've been, my house is a complete mess, I've been eating nothing but junk food, and spending way too much money on take out/delivery because I haven't had much time to actually cook. So my goal of losing weight/getting enough money to go on a trip are also falling by the wayside. Hopefully I'll be able to get back on track with everything once this semester is finally over and things calm down a bit.

This is how I feel most of the time

Only 2 classes next semester and no major festivals or events, so hopefully it'll be a bit more smooth sailing, and then I'll finally be able to graduate and be done with university for.ever.

Thursday, 8 November 2012

Life has been pretty busy with different festivals and work and school, but I managed to cross something super fun off my list! A couple weekends ago, Hal-Con was happening in town, a pretty awesome sci-fi/fantasy/comic/gaming convention that happens every year in Halifax. I've never been to a convention before, probably because I don't think I'm nerdy enough to go and assume all the nerds will be able to tell by smelling my fear. I actually made a point not to wear any slightly-nerdy-related t-shirts because I was worried I'd end up engaging someone in conversation and they'd totally school me and know that I wasn't nerdy enough to be there.

But all my fears washed away when I went. I had such a great time! I went by myself knowing that a few of my friends would be there and I'd meet them once I got there, but I felt a little overwhelmed walking through the crowd alone at first. I made it to the Q&A with Nicholas Briggs - the man who does the voices for the Daleks and Cybermen in Doctor Who - which was what really prompted me to get a ticket for this year's event (last year they brought down Nicholas Brendon aka Xander from Buffy and I was so fucking excited but I got there too late and they told me they had sold the last day pass to the guy directly in front of me. sigh). But this year was the year!

The talk was great, it was so cool to see him talk about what it's like filming Doctor Who, what the cast is like, and how he gets the Daleks to sound the way they do. He actually went into detail about what gear he uses and which plug-ins and whatnot, which was neat if you watch as many gear videos as I do (usually not by choice - my boyfriend watches them constantly so I end up watching them by default and I seem to have picked up a thing or two.)

I got to hang out with a Dalek afterwards!

I spent pretty much the rest of the time just wandering around, giggling like a school girl with a huge grin on my face. There were some amaaazing costumes. I'm always partial to the Doctor Who or Buffy themed stuff - there was a guy sitting next to me during the Nicholas Briggs talk dressed as Spike, and all I could think was "life is pretty awesome right now". There was a wicked Weeping Angel costume and one guy dressed up as this guy from Wild Wild West (he won the costume contest and my heart because oh man, do I love anything even remotely related to Will Smith). I kind of wish I had dressed up, too, mostly because I think my costume this year was pretty killer, but I was already nervous enough going to my first con that I didn't want to add to it by feeling weird by dressing up, even though I kind of ended up feeling weird being in regular clothes amongst all the super awesome costumes all day!

I went as Carmen Sandiego for Halloween and I think I did a pretty damn good job!

There was an arcade which I didn't spend as much time in as I wished. A few of the pinball machines were pretty reasonably priced, and one day I'll have enough money and I will buy one and it will be the most fun ever.

This did not mean what I thought it meant.
It meant violent video games. Disappointing.

I did have the chance to catch a few of my friends battle it out for Team Green Lantern at a debate-style show called Geeks Versus Nerds. The show they did at Hal-Con was "Who are the better intergalactic peacekeepers? Jedi Knights or Green Lantern Corps?" and Green Lantern totally won by a landslide (or at least I think so). If you have a chance to go see them do it live some time, you really should! In the meantime, check out their podcasts.

I'm really glad I decided to check out Hal-Con and I'm already really looking forward to next year's (They've already announced Sylvester McCoy who was the 7th Doctor on Doctor Who and they're bringing Lando!). Really glad I got to cross this one off amidst all the stress of work and school!